


Breaker Breaker

by Hawkscape



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Amputation, Blindness, Carrying, Cute, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Engineering, Explosions, Fear, First Aid, Flowers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Food, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gardens & Gardening, Gay, Guns, Head Injury, Injury, Loss of Limbs, M/M, Medical Procedures, Medicine, Plans, Plants, Prosthesis, Robotics, Romantic Friendship, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Touching, Trauma, Vines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 08:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6277936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkscape/pseuds/Hawkscape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A chance encounter between a mechanic and a botanist one day in the wasteland leads to an unlikely friendship and maybe something more, but will prejudices and killer plants keep them from happiness?</p><p> </p><p>The character Oakland belongs to tumblr user buck-fire</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Breaker Breaker

Breaker had long gotten over the fact that most people hated him. He had thought the hate he got for being a ghoul was bad, but once he was part synth, it got even worse. People wouldn't just be pacified with heckling him from across the room anymore, they would now chase him bodily out of towns. He would much rather be shown animosity then have to live without his arm or eyes, but it didn’t make life easier. He couldn't sell his services as a mechanic if people thought he would somehow turn the generator into a mega weapon. Yeah right, being part synth didn't mean he was magic. At first, he tried to explain to people that it was just parts of him that were robotic, he wasn't actually part of the institute, but it soon became too much trouble. 

A consequence of the animosity his common man held for him meant Breaker had to go to rather out-of-the-way scrap heaps to scavenge for parts to use in his projects. It was on one of these trips that he had a fateful encounter. His arms were piled high with parts to minimize the amount of trips he would need to take back and forth from the scrap pile to his house (a burned out gas station). This meant he couldn't see the ground directly in front of him. Unfortunately, this was where a ghoul named Oakland was examining a rare species of plant. He was so enamored by the plant that he also didn't see Breaker. 

Predictably, the mechanic ran into the botanist and him and his parts went sprawling to the ground as well as knocking the smaller ghoul off balance. He thought that he might have unfortunately tripped over a giant mole rat, but was only slightly relieved when he saw it was another ghoul. Others of his kind generally treated him better, but when it came to synths, everyone was hesitant. When his vision cleared a bit more he noticed that the ghoul he had tripped over was also very cute. ‘Not gonna happen’ he told himself as he waited to see his new acquaintances reaction. 

“Ah, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Oakland was leaning over them slightly with a concerned expression on his face. He seemed to be dressed in a sweater vest and gardening clothes. 

‘Why is he apologizing?’ Breaker thought, ‘I tripped over him.’ He grimaced slightly. ‘bet that kindness hits the bricks when he realizes I’m part synth.’ He waited for the other shoe to drop and for the gardening ghoul to notice, but they just seemed to keep staring intently at his face, so he eventually spoke up. “Uh, yeah, I’m okay.” The other ghoul still didn’t sneer in hate. “You okay? You were on the ground…” 

Oakland’s face lit up and he leaned back to show a small plant stalk with a bulb at the end of it behind him. “Oh, I was actually studying this plant. I think it might be a flower that blooms depending on the weather, but since it's mostly always dry and hot or wet and hot, I haven't had a chance to see.” 

Breaker really hadn't asked for the whole history of the plant, but he didn't really mind since it was the first person he had gotten the chance to have a friendly conversation with in a while. He got up and dusted himself off, looking at the scattered parts all around him. He wasn't to worried about damaging anything since it was all mostly junk anyway. He heard a sudden gasp from Oakland. ‘Ah, finally noticed, did you?’ It was nice while it lasted. 

“I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t make you break anything. Here, I’ll help you pick it up.” It was not the reaction Breaker was expecting, so he just stood there a little hesitant as his new helper stood up and busied himself with picked up spare pieces of metal and wire. He was about a full head shorter then Breaker, possibly a little more. The mechanic finally snapped about of it and started picking up parts too, sputtering out a small thank you. 

After they had gathered up all the parts, Oakland was about to hand over them over to Breaker, when he realized how much it was for him to carry. His face crinkled a little bit before handing over the parts. “Hold on a sec.” He took the backpack he was wearing off and started shuffling through it. 

Despite his seemingly good intentions Breaker couldn't shop the litany of ‘Gonna pull out a gun. Gonna pull out a gun.’ going through his head. 

Oakland finally made a triumphant sound and pulled out a canvas bag, holding it open for the mechanic. “Here! You can use it to carry your parts...so you don't trip over anymore people.” He added the last bit with a good-natured laugh. Breaker looked down at the bag and back to the ghoul. 

“......you sure?” Oakland nodded emphatically and Breaker dumped the parts in the bag. They just barely all fit. The gardeners arms didn't even flinch from the weight. ‘Whoa’ Breaker’s eyes widened slightly ‘this guy’s built like a brick house’. He look the bag and it did make them easier to carry. “Uh...thanks….man.” Little civil contact had made the mechanic rusty with pleasantries. 

Oakland put out a hand covered in soil and cloth. “Oakland. My name’s Oakland.” 

Breaker shifted the weight of the bag. 'Shit, I’m gonna have to shake with the synth arm.’ He reached out and took the other ghouls hand, trying to focus on not crushing it accidentally. There was a pause before he remembered he was supposed to introduce himself too. “I’m Breaker.” 

He quickly retracted his hand and Oakland gave him a little salute. “Well, nice to meet you Breaker, and I hope you have a fun time with all those robot parts.” Breaker turned to leave before feeling that he should probably say something back. “Thanks. Have fun with...plants.” The gardener smiled and went back to his flower. Breaker spent the rest of his walk back to his garage home contemplating the strange gardening ghoul. ‘Did he just have really bad eyes? No, he shook my hand, he would have felt it. Well, he was wearing gloves. He was so small and cute. Stop. Not gonna happen.’ He shook his head. ‘Calm down tiger, you're probably never going to even meet him again.’ He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that the mechanic didn't notice the obvious signs of meddling in the gas station he had been calling home until he walked into the main room to find a group of armed men riffling through his things. 

He let out an angry. “Hey!” before realizing that he probably shouldn't have when they all turned to him. He, nevertheless, kept on talking. “What are you yahoos doing in my house!?” 

The leader of them was about to speak when one of his lackeys pointed to Breaker and shouted. “He’s a synth! Looket his arm and eyes.” All of them quickly raised their guns, causing the mechanic to drop his bag and raise his hands, stepping back out the door slightly. 

“Whoa, whoa, hey, no I’m not.” They quickly followed him out the door and surrounded him. “Guys. Fellas. C’mon.” The leader shoved there gun in his face. 

“Shut up, synth. What in the bag, huh? You kidnap someone?” Breaker shook his head sharply. 

“N-no, no, It's just parts. Mechanical parts.” One of the lackeys opened up the bag and dumped it out. Parts scattered and clattered across the dirty. 

The leader shoved the gun sharply in the ghouls face again. “Synth parts.” 

The mechanic shook his head again, careful of the weapon. “No, um, well, synths are mechanical so there might be some synth parts in there, but I think most of those are from old Protectron honestly.” The leader just narrowed his eyes at the long-winded explanation. Breaker motioned at himself slightly. “I’m a mechanic.” 

This only got the pistol shoved closer to his face. ‘any farther and that things going to be up my nose.’ “A synth mechanic.” The leader insisted. 

Breaker was getting a little tired of this. “Okay, you can't just put the word synth in front of anything and make it a crime.” That comment was what finally got him smacked across the face by the gun. This caused him to stumble back and grab his nose. “Ah shit, watch it, this thing’s held on with duct tape.” This comment got him tripped by one of the lackeys and due to him already using his hands to fix his nose, he hit his head sharply on the ground. Everything swam as he was assaulted by the group's kicks. He was able to keep his face mostly protected by his hands with his torso taking most of the blows. Unfortunately, his head wound was not doing much to keep him conscious and he eventually passed out.


	2. Milk of Ghoul Kindness

The sun was just beginning to set as Oakland started to make his way back to his small farm. He knew that he should have set out for safety sooner, but he wanted to make absolutely sure that the flower wasn't triggered by twilight. He would have to transplant the plant back to his farm if he wanted to check its night cycle, he knew better than to wander too far from home at night. He had been walking for a while before he noticed something odd. He was just wandering past an old gas station when he noticed something laying on the ground in front of it. He squinted at it slightly before it formed itself into a person lying prone. He took a few steps towards it before he caught a glint of sunset reflecting off its arm. He started running towards the figure. It was Breaker! The ghoul they had met before. 

Oakland knelt down by his side and looked them over. Luckily, he seemed to be breathing, but he was a bit worse for wear. His nose appeared to be slightly out of alignment and a bit bent and his arm sported a few dings and scrapes, but his flesh parts seems to have weathered the worst of the assault. There were bruises on his arm and he were curled around his torso like it hurt to breath. Oakland shook him while calling his name, but it didn't rouse him. 

The gardener nodded to himself and picked up the busted up mechanic, carrying him bridal style back to his farm. He luckily didn't hit any trouble on the journey despite the increasingly darkening surroundings. The sun was just giving its final goodbyes when Oakland shouldered open the door to his small shack and set his patient down on the bed. 

He pulled out a small box from a dented locker in the corner. Inside were all the plants he had ground up or otherwise cured to help with ailments along with more conventional bandages and stimpaks. He pulled up a stool next to the still very unconscious mechanic and began to bandage the various cuts and bruises he had accrued. Oakland didn't know about how to fix any of the synth parts so he just left those for now. After taking care of the injuries on his extremities he set about trying to work on Breakers torso. He contemplated attempting to wrestle the unconscious ghoul out of his shirt, but finally decided on just cutting it off. He would get the guy a new shirt later. The gardener visibly started at his patient's torso. Even through the molted skin, large bruises were evident on most of his chest and side. ‘Yikes’ was Oakland's main thought as he set about applying some leafs that would help with the pain and blood flow before bandaging it all up tight. ‘Hope the poor guy can still breath.’ He really couldn't do anything much else for him except have something ready for the pain when he woke up. The gardener continued with his thoughts while he cleaned up the medicine and shuffled over to his small kitchen. ‘He’ll probably be hungry to. I should make something for him. It's been a long time since I’ve had a dinner guest.’ He cast a glance back over at his patient. ‘Wish it was under better circumstances though.’ 

With that, the good samaritan began to prepare the first dinner for two since before the war and the mechanic slept fitfully on the old couch.


	3. Oh Heaven is a Place on Earth with You

Breaker floated back into consciousness gradually. His first thought was similar to the last thought he had, which was, funnily enough; ‘Dang it, they're gonna take all my shit.' His second thought was ‘Wow, even the synth parts of me hurt.’, followed closely by ‘Do I smell food?’. That last revelation was the one that finally got the mechanic to pop his glowing eyes open and search his surroundings. ‘Wait a minute…’ He began to get up before gasping and deciding that no, that wasn't a very good idea at the moment. He felt over himself for any damage. He seemed to have been patched up while he was unconscious. His arm and nose were dented a bit, but it was nothing he couldn't fix. ‘Who would have…?’ He was snapped from his thoughts by a familiar voice. 

“Oh, Good! You're awake.” It was that cute gardener he had tripped over earlier. Oak tree. Oak...place. Oakland. It was Oakland. How had they found him? Or known that he was in trouble? Breaker was about to ask all this before the shorter man raised his hand. “Hold on just one second.” He ducked back into the small room he had come out of and came back with two plates of food and some pills. “This’ll help with the pain.” He held both out to the mechanic who took them sheepishly. 

The food seemed to be something close to corn and mashed potatoes. ‘I didn't know corn still existed.’ He hesitantly looked at the gardener-who was already chowing down-and then back at his plate. ‘Why not?’ He downed the pills, picked up the bent fork stuck in the mash, and started to eat. He quickly began devouring the food at fast at he could, not caring about his injuries. ‘What kind of spices does this guy use? This is the best thing I’ve had since before the war. Able to cook, strong, nice, cute. This guy's the full package.’ These last few thoughts caught Breaker off guard and caused him to choke slightly. 

Oakland chuckled slightly at their guests antics. “I’m glad you like it, but slow down. I’m not gonna take it away from you.” 

Being forced to stop eating for a moment, the mechanic suddenly remembered all the questions he had. “Howja find me?” 

The gardener just shrugged and separated the remaining corn and potatoes on his plate with a fork. “I was walking home and saw you lain on the ground in front of a gas station. Just luck really.” 

Breaker couldn't believe this guy. “And you just decided to take me home with you?” 

Oakland shrugged again, like lugging a 175 pound man across the desert wasn't anything special. “Well, you were pretty beat up. I couldn't just leave you there.” 

Breaker let out a harsh laugh. “Yah, you could’ve.” 

The gardener didn't reply and just went back to eating his food with a neutral expression. ‘Shit, I insulted him somehow.’ He looked down at himself. ‘Wow, this guy patches you up and you put your foot in your mouth the first conversation.’ Breaker cleared his throat. “You a doctor?” Oakland looked at him confused for a moment. “You just seem to know how to put humpty dumpty back together, is all.” 

Oakland suddenly understood and shook his head. “Oh, no, I'm not a doctor. I guess you could call me a botanist. I know about a lot of plants with medicinal properties. You see, mutfruit leaves can actually help with bruises so I put some on your chest wounds and then bandaged them. Your other cuts could be taken care of fairly easily with healing powder. It's nothing that fancy.” His face suddenly fell and he looked to the side. “I’m sorry, I cut up your shirt when I was bandaging you. I can get you a new one though. Hold on.” Breaker was about to say that it didn't really matter, but he had already gotten up and was riffling through one of the lockers lining the walls. He pulled out a faded yellow dress shirt and held it out to the mechanic. “Here, it's a little big for me, but it might fit you.” 

Breaker tried not grimace as he sat up more and put the shirt on. He decided against buttoning it up for now. It was a little short, but the arms and shoulders were good. He rolled up the right sleeve to make sure that his arm didn't get any fabric caught in its mechanics, but other then that it was perfect. He looked up to his savior and started picking at an absent button on one of the cuffs. “Thanks. For everything. You really didn’t have to do all this.” He stopped abruptly. “Wait. Did you CARRY me all the way here?” Oakland picked up the dirty plates while not making eye contact. “Well, yeah. It’s fine, it wasn't that far.” 

‘What was this guy's angle? No one was this nice. Well, maybe this guy was.’ Breaker felt bad for this guy doing so much for him. “Is there anything I could do to pay you back? I can fix things. I’m a mechanic.” After making a trip to the sink and back Oakland leaned against the door frame and shrugged again. 

“I could always use more help around the farm. Once you're better that is.” Breaker smiled crookedly and shifted in his seat. 

“I’m not sure I’m up for milking brahmin. If there's a toaster or something you need to talk, that I can manage.” Oakland snorted slightly and covered his mouth. 

“I don't have any need for that, but don't worry, there aren't any animals on my farm. Just plants.” Oakland went over to one of the windows in the room and pulled back the threadbare flower print curtains to show off rows and rows of plants that Breaker wasn't sure he could name. He whistled slightly in appreciation. The gardener seemed to beam at his wide eyes. 

“That’s a lot of plants.” The mechanics moved his eyes from the foliage to their benefactor. “You got an irrigation system?” 

Oakland’s smile faltered a little as they let the curtains fall again. “Tried once, it led to a lot of wasted water, which I couldn't afford.” 

Breaker would have jumped up if his ribs weren't still killing him so he just snapped his fingers instead. “That's what I’ll do. I'll make you a great irrigation system in no time.” He leaned against the wall the bed was up against. “I think I have some spare pipe we could use back at my workshop.” He grimaced. “If those raiders didn't steal it all.” The gardener frowned. “Raiders? Did they attack you?” 

Breaker shrugged and adjusted the sleeve that was threatening to fall back down his mechanical arm. “Eh, yah, it happens. People get put off by the arm...and the eyes...and literally everything about me.” Oakland's expression turned into one of slight horror. The mechanic waved his hand as if to dispel the emotion. “It's fine, I’m used to it.” This didn't seem to make the gardener any happier, but he reined in his face to a look of only slight disgust. 

They lapsed into silence until Oakland broke it. “Well, we should be getting to sleep. See you in the morning.” He waved slightly and went to walk out of the room before Breaker noticed what he was sitting on and spoke up. 

“Hey wait, where are you gonna sleep? Is this your bed? I can move it’s fi-” He tried to get up and show he was fine, but a shot of pain made him sit back down, not doing a good job of proving his point. 

The gardener stepped toward him slightly, as if afraid he'd fall if he walked. “No, it’s fine, I’ve got a couch. Don’t worry.” Breaker wasn't happy about it, but he couldn't do much to the contrary so he leaned back into the bed with a grumble. 

“G’night.” 

“Good Night.” 

This guy was to nice for his own good. He didn't want to burden the nice gardener more than he had to. With his fast healing he'd be ready to work in a day or so and then he could build the irrigation system and be out of here in less than two weeks, tops. He felt some kind of sadness at the prospect of leaving so soon. Even if he'd only known this guy for a day, it was the first civil interaction he'd had with anyone in a long time. ‘Not to mention he’s cute.’ Breaker slapped himself on the head automatically. He clenches his eyes shut definitively while repeating his goal in his head like a mantra. ‘Two weeks, two weeks, two weeks.”


	4. Two Months Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sha la la la la la me oh my look like the boy too shy not gonna...

Well so much for that plan. The irrigation system had been up and running in three weeks and after that, Breaker had attempted to make himself leave. Unfortunately, the combination of kindness and well cooked meals was strong enough to postpone his plans indefinitely. Neither of them had directly referenced that fact that the mechanic seemed to be becoming a permanent resident of the farm, but Breaker felt bad for imposing on Oakland's hospitality anyway. He'd like to think that the gardener liked having him around, but he still busied himself with various projects around the old shack he thought he could fix as an excuse for him staying. He had also been able to keep his small crush to himself, although they often talked late into the night about their various interests, testing his resolve made weak by tiredness. Both of these subjects collided on one of these late night talks. 

They were on the ratty couch that served as their main meeting place most of the time. A lull in the conversation had lead to the mechanic being hit with a sudden wave of guilt at taking advantage of his friends kindness for so long. He couldn't stop himself before blurting out. “I’m sorry.” Oakland looked at him questioningly, making him continue. “I...feel like I'm taking advantage of you by staying here. You know I’ll leave if you just say the word.” 

The gardeners face fell slightly. “Do you want to leave?” 

Breaker shook his head frantically, he hated seeing his friend unhappy. “No, I love it here.” He coughed slightly. “I really like it here.” Oakland's face relaxed as the mechanic continued. “I just don’t want you to feel obligated to let me stay here. Don’t want to be a burden, I guess? Just wanted to let you know you can kick me out whenever you feel like it.” He put up a small thumbs up. 

The smaller ghoul laughed heartily before responding. “If I didn't want you here I would have kicked you out as soon as you were better.” He averted his eyes from the mechanic. “Truth is, it's pretty lonely with just the plants for company. Nice to have someone to talk to that talks back.” He turned back to Breaker who was fiddling with an old can to keep his hands busy. “I’m glad I met you.” 

Breaker tried to play it cool but he ended up fiddling the can right out of his hands and onto the floor with a clank. He tried to play it off, but his hands just kind of fluttered about indiscriminately before he rested them on his knees. His face was slightly crooked. “Oh? W-well, same goes for you. I mean...me. I mean, I’m glad I met you, to.” Oakland nodded distinctively and leaned back to stare off into space. 

Breaker took to staring at the can he’d dropped, wondering about his situation. ‘I can’t tell him, he’d kick me out.’ The mechanic stole a glance at the serene face of his friend. ‘Well, he probably wouldn't, but it would be really awkward, and I might make myself leave if that happens. I can’t tell if he's just this nice to everyone or if he likes me as well.’ This whole situation was playing havoc with Breakers nerves in a way that constantly fearing raiders never did. ‘So, it’s decided, I’m not going to tell him. It'll pass.’ 

“Hey.” Oakland's voice make Breaker jump slightly and look over at the smaller ghoul. He was leaning very far forward and staring intently at Breaker. The mechanic froze like a radstag in lamplight. “Don’t move for a second, you’ve got something on your eye.” The gardener took off one of his gloves and reached forward to pick a piece of fluff out of the glowing orb. Breaker didn't think he'd ever been this close to Oakland before. Well, while he was conscious. His face was covered in odd burns and marks from staying out in the sun to long. “There we go. Sorry, it was bothering me, heh.” The gardener sat back and slipped his glove back on. ‘Wonder if his hands are soft because of the gloves.’ He shook his head under the pretense of checking to see if the fluff was all gone. 

“Thanks. Don’t notice that stuff sometimes because of the lack of feeling, ya know?” Oakland frowned slightly. 

“Can you not feel any of your metal parts?” Breaker waved his hand slightly. 

“Eh, it depends. I can feel pressure on my arm, but nothing really tactile. I honestly don't think I want to feel my eyes anyway and my nose is pretty much just stuck on with duct tape, so it's more for looks than anything else.” Oakland gave a sorry look before Breaker continued on. “It’s fine. It's better than having no arm or eyes. Honestly, I’m pretty lucky.” 

Oakland agreed but he still looked sad. “If it's not to personal, can I ask what happened?” 

Breaker scratched the back of his neck. No one had ever asked him that before. They mostly just made their own assumptions. “Ah, no, it’s fine. Was trying to work on making a generator from scratch, but I guess I didn't quite have it down yet. It kind of…” He made an outward motion with his hands. “Blew up.” Oakland's frown grew even deeper. Maybe he shouldn't have told him after all. “The initial explosion took my arm off, but it didn't completely blind me. More like, mildly unable to see.” He shrugged and couldn't take the looks Oakland was giving him anymore so he looked away. “Probably would have killed me if I was a human, but after some first aid, my arm stopped bleeding and I was on my merry way. The prosthetic idea only came to me one day after I was scavenging and found a synth arm. Figured if I could hook everything up right I’d be good to go. Took a lot of very charred medical textbooks and more Stimpaks and Med-X then was probably healthy, but I did it. The eyes took a little more finesse, but I’m my own nightlight now.” He tried to lighten the situation to no avail. 

Oakland leaned closer to inspect the joint where flesh met metal at Breaker’s shoulder. “Must have hurt a lot, working on yourself like that.” 

The mechanic rattled on, not noticing his friend’s proximity. “Oh yeah, it hurt like a…” He caught site of the smaller ghoul’s closeness and his downtrodden expression. “Well, it wasn't THAT bad.” 

The gardener looked over to his taller friend. “Can I…?” They motioned to the arm. 

‘He already touched your eye’ Breaker shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. “Sure.” 

Oakland took off both of his gloves and began to examine the mechanical arm. Breaker worked hard to let his arm go limp. The gardener moved the joints around a bit, twisting it this way and that, looking at the way the cables and synthetic muscles moved underneath the scant outer casing. The curious ghoul’s delicate hands made their way up the synthetic arm until they reached the red and scarred flesh where it connected to the shoulder. The touch took Breaker off guard, making them jump slightly and making Oakland pull back. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” 

The mechanic shook his head sharply. “No, no, it's fine. Just kind of sensitive there. ‘S a bit raw from all the wiring, is all.” The feather like touches hadn't been unpleasant, they had just startled him. The gardener nodded and went back to carefully prodding at the prosthetic as Breaker looked on. Oakland's face was a mixture of fascination and sadness at his friend's condition. ‘Kiss him. Kiss him. Kiss him right on the face.’ Breaker was not going to do that, but he was realizing that keeping his feelings under wraps was not going to be as possible as he had hoped. ‘If I’m gonna do this, I need to do it right.’ With that, He decided to just be in the moment for now with his object of affection and worry about the logistics of putting his plan into action it in the morning.


	5. I’M A MEAN GREEN MOTHER FROM OUTERSPACE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beration might not be a word, but it is a feeling

It was a week or so later while Oakland was working in his garden during the hottest part of the day that Breakers plan came to fruition. The gardener had noticed his friend stealing off somewhere earlier in the day before the sun was even up, but he got too caught up in his plants to think too much on it. He was about to take a break for some water and maybe a sandwich when he sensed a presence behind him. He turned around and was met with Breaker lugging a pot with a sheet over it towards him. Oakland scampered over to help his friend haul the container towards an open spot in the garden. The mechanic seemed a bit shocked by his presence, but soon realized he needed the help and didn't make a fuss. 

After reaching their goal at the corner of the garden they both stepped back to catch their breath. “What did you find B? Got an entire securitron in there?” 

Oakland let out a small laugh as Breaker scratched the back of his head and looked away for a moment. “Ah, well, It’s actually kind ofapresentforyou…” 

Oakland had long grown accustomed to deciphering the mechanics mumbles and his eyes sparkled at the confession. “Oh! Thank you! Is it some kind of occasion?” 

‘Well, If everything goes right it WILL be our anniversary. Whoa hot shot, slow down there.’ Breaker shook his head to clear his mind and ease his friends fears. “No, I just...felt like getting you something.” 

Oakland's smile lit up even brighter. “Ooooooh, what is it?” He was shifting back and forth on his feet in excitement. If the mechanic had known a present would make him this happy he would have done it sooner. 

Breaker grabbed the sheet he had covered the pot with and tugged it off. “Ta-da~!” He gave his best game show host impression. “It’s a plant.” 

If he thought Oakland couldn't get any more excited, he was wrong. The gardener practically skipped closer to the plant which resembled a very large venus flytrap. “I’ve been wanting to study one of these for a long time. I saw some of them outside of a vault near here, but I was never able to get close to one without it trying to attack me. How did you get it to calm down?” Breakers blood turned cold. 

‘Attacking plants? Seemed just like a normal plant to me. I just dug it up. Aw shoot, did I accidentally kill it?’ The mechanic was about to relate how he just dug the plant up before sunrise and dragged it over here in a wheelbarrow when the plant started to spring to life. It gyrated around and pulled back as if about to strike. Before Oakland could react Breaker shoved him out of the way, having his arm grabbed sharply by a vine in the process. The vine was lined with barbs and had an effect of velcro, only on flesh instead of fabric. 

Oakland recovered quickly and turned to see his friends trying to pull his arm free of one of them. “Breaker!” 

Breaker turned his attention away from the vine and to the gardener with a small fake smile. “It’s okay, it’s fine, it’s just my synth arm, no pro-” His words of reassurance were cut off by having his legs yanked out from under him by another vine. Next thing he knew he was being hauled up in the air as the spines dug into his shins. All of his tools and possible weapons fell out of his belt and pockets onto the ground. ‘Well, this date is going swimmingly.’ He tried to use his one free arm to fight back but it was quickly cinched to his body by yet another vine. He looked around frantically for anyway to get free and spied Oakland underneath him picking up his tools. “Oakland what are you doing?” 

The gardener looked up and held up one of Breaker's wrenches. “If I can throw something in its mouth, it will close automatically. It’s like a reflex. It should be enough pause to get you free.” The mechanic would have giving a thumbs up, but both his hands were otherwise occupied at the moment. Before he could respond verbally, he was suddenly jerked sharply towards the things mouth as it opened menacingly. Teeth and hair lined the fleshy insides and despite Breakers trust in his friend to save him, his struggles to get free doubled. A wrench sailed through the air, narrowly missing his head, and into the plants open maw. It snapped shut, again missing his head by too small of a margin. The vines took this as a sign to all released at once, catching its victim off guard, and causing him to flop onto the ground like a rag doll. Before he was able to wright himself on his own, he felt themselves being dragged backwards by his shoulders. It was Oakland dragging him away from the plant. He would never get over how strong his small friend was. To be honest, he thought the fact that the gardener could bench-press him was kind of hot, but now was not the time to be thinking about that. When they were both far enough away from the plant to be safe, both flopped onto the ground, panting. 

Now that they were both far enough away to not be in danger of death, it was time for Breaker to reflect on how bad this date proposal had gone. This reflection mostly consisted of a repeating mantra of self-beration. He was only broken from this by Oakland shaking his shoulder whilst lying next to him. He hadn't noticed that he was that close. “Hey, B. Breaker. Breaker. Are you okay?” Breaker found that he was still out of breath and simply nodded before putting his synth arm over his eyes. Oakland frowned and looked at him with concern. “I think the plant must be diurnal. I thought it was always hostile. I never took into consideration that it might calm down in the darkness. Now that I know, I can research it much more safely now. Thanks.” 

Breaker gave a horse laugh as he thumped his robotic arm into the dust at his side. 'Thanks for almost getting both of us killed. I totally want to date you now. Stupid, stupid, stupid!' The mechanic hefted himself up and tried not to look at his friend. 

His silence was noted. “Hey, are you okay? You got thrown around pretty good there.” The taller ghoul began to survey himself. There were numerous small cuts all over his flesh from the barbs on the vines. 'Those are gonna be a bitch to clean. Stupid.' His arm had been deformed slightly from the pressure of the lashings around them. His vision began to blur. He shook his head slightly, but it didn't right itself. 'Optics are messed up. Stupid.' He hunched forward and tapped them with his metal fingers. They flickered slightly, but were still blurry. 

“Hey!” Breaker realized he had never answered. 

He waved him off trying to focus on something other then how much of a fuckup he was. “Yeah, I'm fine. I jus- I think my optics got messed up or someth...” His voice suddenly started to give out and he hated it. He hated this. He hated himself. 

Something came into his line of sight and he jerked back slightly before being steadied by a grip on his flesh arm. Oakland was holding up a semi-clean rag up to the mechanic's eyes. “Hold still.” 

Breaker complied as the gardener wiped off his glowing eyes carefully, not taking his hand off the taller ghouls arm. It made them feel more grounded. He focused on keeping still instead of his own failings. Oakland pulled the rag away and the mechanic could see it was wet. He was crying. He didn't know he could still cry. 'Child. Idiot. Stupid.' His friend wasn't looking at them like they were an idiot though, just like he was worried. 

“I feel like something more is going on here then a rouge plant. I don't want to pry, but I feel like...” He pursed his lips for a moment in thought. “I want to know if you really are okay.” 

Breaker felt something. Some kind of spark. It finally clicked that the botanist really did care about him. He wasn't just nice or friendly or naive. He actually cared about him. He hadn't meant to get this emotional. It was simply a culmination of almost getting eaten by a rouge plant and finding out that the guy you've been pinning over for actually might have a chance at reciprocating. Maybe he wasn't as prepared for this as he thought. Breaker gave out a small huff and rubbed his flesh hand over his face. “Yeah, m'fine. Jus'...have a lot going on.” The mechanic got up and reached a hand down to help his friend. “Sorry about the...killer plant thing.” 

Oakland was pulled back to his feet and dusted off his gloves, smile slowly returning. “It's the thought that counts and like I said I'm glad I'm going to be able to study it now.” 

They gave the plant a wide birth while walking back to the house to tend to their wounds. They would build a fence or something once they were able to get a sheet over it again. Until then, Breaker tried to think up a new plan to come clean. One that hopefully involved a lot less injury.


End file.
